The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has filed a motion to intervene in the federal Defense of Marriage Act lawsuit.

The group Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders filed the lawsuit when clients in Massachusetts were denied federal benefits for couples recognized as married under state law. The state also filed suit to dismantle the federal DOMA. Dale Schowengerdt, litigation attorney with ADF, tells OneNewsNow a federal judge struck down the DOMA law as unconstitutional in those two cases in July, but the rulings are on hold pending appeal.

"Since then, the Department of Justice has refused to say whether it's going to appeal the case," he reports. "And frankly, during the litigation of the case, it gave...basically a sham defense of the law in the first place. So we moved to intervene on behalf of Representative Lamar Smith (R), who is the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee"...